THE PIONEER STEAMER

CALIFORNIA

APPENDIX

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B

PASSENGER LIST OF THE STEAMER FALCON ON LEAVING NEW YORK,

DECEMBER 1, 1848¹

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1. Rueben Witherz 2. Maj. Fitzgerald 3. E. Woodruff 4-5. Capt. F. G. Elliott and land (sic) 6. Persifer Frazier 7-8. Rev. O. C. Wheeler and lady 9. Rev. Mr. Woodbrigh 10. Rev. J.W. Douglass 11. Chief Justice Bryant

12. K. Pritchett, Coll. Of San Francisco 13. Major Loyd Brooks 14. R.W. Heath 15. George E. Tyler 16. W. H. Peise 17. Levi Stowell 18. H.F. Williams 19. Wm. S. Burch 20. John Joyce

21. John Morse 22. J. A. Voorhees, Special P.O. Ag. for Savannah 23. John R. Suydam 24. W. J. Fulton 25. Job Chandler 26. J. B. Fish 27. Rev. S. H. Willey 28. Rev. W. F. Tilgham 29. Lieut. Gibbs, aide to Gen. Smith

¹New York Herald, December 2, 1848.

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C

PASSENGER LIST OF THE STEAMER FALCON ON LEAVING

NEW ORLEANS.¹

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Left New Orleans, December 18, 1848

Arrived at Chagres, December 26, 1848.

CHAGRES- Steamship FALCON, New Orleans.

Persifer F. Smith, Governor of California, lady and two servants. Gen Adair, Collector of the port of Astoria, wife and six children. Judge W. P. Bryant, Chief Justice of Oregon R. Pritchett, Secretary of State of Oregon. W. Van Voorhees, US Mail Agent in California. Major Fitzgerald, USA Major Ogden, USA and lady. Major Canby, USA and lady Capt. E G Elliott, USA and lady Isaac Bronson, Mail Agent in Oregon Capt. J. McDougall, lady and child Lieut. Gibbs Persifer Frazer Capt. R. W. Waterman N. H. Wyse Rev. Mr. Woodbridge Rev. Mr. Douglass Rev. O. C. Wheeler and lady Forest Field E Woodruff R A Maupin S.C. Willey W F Tilghman B. F. Whittier R. Rust Andrew Garr T. B. Winsten Jacob Furrer James Wharton Henry J Clark R. B. Withers Charles Baum F E Kerstein John Blockley Jas J Rawls Benj Aspinwall John O Agnew John Keys Thomas Brease Lloyd Brooks _ Heath P Ord W Norris D T Bagley W Valentine T Phillips H E Robinson B Mahony Luther Hathaway Henry Toll W S McKnight Jesus Curna Dr Wilson Jones M L Goodman

Geo W Fenno Henry Perritt John McWilliams W Sewell John Morse John Berry Isaac Anderson J D Gilmore J Metcalf J A Phillips W Zerka D S Allen Peter Carter John Peterson John Berkel Peter Smith W G Davis Wm Johnson Saml Gilmore Wm Robbi H Z Wheeler Thos Sherlock D Robertson J. Henry Coghill John B Crawford John Hughes Patrick Vance Thomas Freeland Alex McLaughlin Auguste Dusprat Lewis Lask Jos Lask J F Noble Benjamin Tunis Richard Tunis O W Heurlin Lewis H Pollock James McCullech W P Pottorff C Lilly E Smith J Brown George E Tyler Wm E Price Levi Stonell H F Williams Wm L Burch John Joyce W S Smart Wm F. Smart W J Whitney and lady Eli Banchor R B Ord

James R McAdam Thomas F White John H White Elnathan Elliott Edwin R Thompson Albert Pawling Robert R Winders H L Tudor John Bigley Louis Pappi M Shafer F Rosenbaum Benj Wheeler Wm Worthing John E Townes Arthur Toledana Dr. J Baron Clement John H Craycroft C Robinson E W Emerick Thomas H. Reed Charles Gulliver Lorenzo B Hayden Willard W Hayden Michael Tankred John Brien John B Miller Wm. L Kelten Henry Lewis A Toutant D H Whepley Capt. Lawrence Denison P Barry A W VonSmuth A A Ducros P H Luckett A B Wood Robert Baldwin James Frazer Thomas Murphy Richard Victor William Waters Edward Cain Jas K Ogier Daniel Locke Jas Jenkins Andrew Miller E B Ragsdale Philip Williams Jarvis B Hendrickson John Gairo Jesse P Jones Maj Arnold Harris Edward Freedman.

¹New York Herald, December 28, 1848.

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D

PASSENGER LIST OF THE CRESCENT CITY¹

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Left New York, December 23, 1848

PASSENGER SAILED

In steamship Crescent City, for Chagres

Jas Hunson T N Stan A A Porter F C Gray Joseph B Read Geo E Webster Alex H Barbim Erastus Spencer A Clom E H Sullivan W H Grattan Mr Roberts and friends Henry Baker Henry D Baker Morris Bailey D C Hardin John Wehrman P Brunner R S Williamson F Rempton C Fritz S Britton A Landon M Branch Wm E Wheaton E C Guisse De Grasse Foster G M Fox, Jr. Jas F Rogers Griffith Hone Alex Wiley A Arnold J Buntin Geo Augustus C Dunbar Wm Leonard

D Bronning C Dye Chas C Townsend F S Amith G G Wood H H Spencer A K Meyers C Fox O Backus W D Sewell C Livingston Amos House J W Thompson W Ridley B Johnson J Lunau W R Halsey M Read J Johnson Edward Batters Morgan L R Mills C N B Crosby Rudolph Gureke A Blook T R Menton G G Gallagher F Chunsy C A Hayford L L Blood E Tickenor Edmund A Woodbridge Geo H Pitkin Wm Brooks C H Hughes W N Wilson W K Cindleton John Barker Wm H Baldwin

Jas Birch J Manning J Wilson H A Warren H Miller J H Giles J Gray J Davenport A M Dorrance M H Barrett D H Shipps C A Hotchkiss Lomis Litter T A Goin Nesbit J Quick G Quimby C S Penfield T Martin A Martin H Wyman D Sidney Shownell F E James C Praig Geo M Yates A A M Yates A McLean Thomas Bowen D Rogers D Rogers Fr. F G Rogers J Neal D Browning J M Buntin M Johnson A C Can Leander Rogers W E Contey

¹New York Daily Tribune, December 25, 1848; also New York Herald, December 25, 1848.

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E

PROGRESS OF THE PASSENGERS OF THE CRESCENT CITY

OVER THE ISTHMUS AT CHAGRES, JANUARY 2, 1849¹

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ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCE

BY THE

STEAMSHIP CRESCENT CITY

__________________

THE PROGRESS OF THE EMIGRANTS OVER THE ISTHMUS, &c. &c. &c.

We have received some additional intelligence of interest from Panama and Chagres, by the steamship Crescent City.

The latest accounts from Panama are of the morning of the 8^th, and from Chagres of the afternoon of the 9^th inst.

There were three schooners at Panama announced for San Francisco. They would leave between the 8^th and 20^th inst., with passengers. The Humboldt, coalship, was also there; but would not go to California. The bark Philadelphia was not there, as previously reported, but was daily expected. She will probably be chartered to take passengers to the gold region, and one or two vessels from the South were to touch at Panama, on their way North.

There had been five deaths in all, viz._

Mr. Luckett, of New Orleans

Capt. Elliott, of the Quartermaster's Department;

Mr. Birch, of New Orleans

Mr. Geo. W. Taylor, of Providence, R. I.;

Mr. Thorne, of New York.

The latter gentelman died in Panama, on the morning of the 8^th inst. He is a son of Mr. Thomas W. Thorne, President of the National Fire Insurance Company, of this city.

We learn that a party of engineers, New Granadians, were met on the road, between Chagres and Panama, preparing to clear the road and improve it for travel.

¹New York Herald, January 29, 1849.

The Orus was expected at Chagres in a few days. She, it will be recollected, is to ply on the Chagres, and will run up fifteen or twenty miles. This will dispense with the use of canoes.

New York, January 27, 1849.

J. G. BENNETT, Esq: ---

Dear Sir – Enclosed, I beg leave to hand you a report, up to the 8^th inst., of the whereabouts of the passengers of the steamer Crescent City, on her late trip to Chagres.

The publication of the list will doubtless afford a very desirable item of information to many of your subscribers, in all parts of the country, and will by no means detract from the high reputation of your paper for the early furnishing of valuable news.

The report, I believe, embraces the names of all the passengers out by the Crescent City, from those who had arrived in Panama previous to my leaving that place, to those who yet remained at Cruces and Gorgona, at the head of Chagres River, awaiting conveyance to Panama.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

JNO. W. CARRINGTON,

Purser of the Crescent City.

REPORT of PROGRESS OF PASSENGERS BY THE STEAMER CRESCENT CITY, CAPT. STODDARD, MASTER, FROM NEW YORK TO CHAGRES, DEC. 23, 1848, ARRIVED AT CHAGRES JANUARY 2, 1849 – 9 ½ days:

At Panama, Jan. 9.

Capt. W. K. Smith, of Va. Louis R. Sowers, Philad. Harry L. Shotwell, do. N. S. Shotwell, do. Edwin L. Morgan, do.

James M. Reed, do. Hardin Bigelow, Michigan David Rogers, sr. Hudson James R. Malony, N. York. A. A. Porter, do.

Steph'n H. Branch, do. Charles Hughes, do. W. H. Nelson, do. Thomas A. Goin, do. W. K. Pendleton, do

Met on the Road from Cruces to Panama, Jan. 8.

John Davenport George Chase Charles Radcliffe Lt. R. J. Williamson, Top. Engin'r. De Grasse Fowler, N. York Samuel N. Fox, do. John Roberts John Maynard Capt. Jas. Kearney, N.Y. John Wilson, do. James Patten, do. James Birch, do. Griffith Rowe, do. T. N. Starr R. Geeseke James Kane, New Haven A. C. Carr

C.Prague D.G. Phipps, New Haven C. Hotchkiss, do. H. Hotchkiss, do. David Rogers, jr., Hudson Leander Rogers, do. N. G. Rogers, do. C. Fritze T. Rimpan L. Goodwin, New York Capt. W. W. Brooks, Brigpt. J. Olmsted J. H. Giles E. C. Geisse, Philadelphia H. A. Warren Ed. Batters, Philad. John Johnson

A. J. Tiffany, Buffalo. A. B. Cooke, Virginia C.J. Fox Oscar Backus H. W. Wyman P. Brunner A. Boyden, Buffalo John Barker H. H. Spencer S. Quimby J. Quick J. G. Maxwell H. Miller J. Gray T. B. Newton E. Kirschaw G. M. Yates.

At Cruces, (head of Chagres River), Jan. 8:

Clarkson Dye, New York. E. S. Penfield, do. A. McLean, do. A. R. Myers, do. E. E. Dunbar, do. J. W. Bowen, do. H. T. Booraem, do. John Lienen, do. James L. Fowler, Boston. John M. Buntin, do. A. L. Dale, do. C.H. Hayford, Provid. R. I. W. R. Halsey, Brooklyn

Charles H. Hoyt, Brooklyn Louis Gibson, New York. Louis Lillie, do. E. Sparrow, Buffalo. A. Klemm W. H. Baldwin W. W. Ridley, New York T. M. Maslin, Philadelphia. Alexr. Maslin, do. A. H. Barbour, New York. E. L. Sullivan W. H. Grattan David Sidle

O. W. Rawson S. S. Gallagher, N. Jersey J. B. Pine J. B. Wehrman B. M'Nally Saml. B. Mills, New York F. C. Gray, Chicago J. F. Rogers A. W. Noney, New York M. Bailey J. Manning S. W. Britton A. Landon

At Gorgona, to leave next morning, Jan. 9^th, for Panama.

W. L. Thayer G. A. Thayer Daniel Browning Timothy Page

Cortlandt Livingston E. R. Hall Edward Tichenor Anson House

John W. Thompson L.L. Blood W. D. Sewell, jun. Augustus Arnold.

----All in good health and spirits; no casualty of any kind having occurred, up to the date of our leaving, to any of the Crescent City's passengers.

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F

PASSENGER LIST OF THE STEAMER ISTHMUS.¹

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Left New York, Decmber 26, 1848

Arrived at New Orleans, January 3, 1849.

PASSENGERS SAILED

CHAGRES – Steamship Isthmus -

S. R. Smith Geo. P Way G Lilliendahl A. W. Kruger Truscott Potter Geo Webster J G Haines Dorrance Huntzleman S C Mott O H Webster H D Allen P H Kelly P A Pedriaux H Doran H F Bird E Carpenter W Agate W Poillon J D Poillon E V Joice T P Van Buren

J C Hardy E H Stephenson E C Patterson L C Webster S O Brigham D P Webster B F Williams M Fallon James Dunn James Wolfe G W Carnes Litzendorff and lady G Sampson E C Andrews F Carpenter F Mount J W Brown W R Andrews B W Harwood Geo L Smith D McCarty Jacob Hohl Rosenchwier

J G Kolbig E Crosby P McCabe A Fulton F E Pinto John Lambieer R F Fowler T B Wade W J Connor L C Stein E P Howell S B French R E Garder Thom Riley Geo Leland S P Woolworth John Titus John Galloway John Kelly R Austin Alex Austin John Read Alfred Redforn

¹New York Herald, December 28, 1848.

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G

COLONEL MASON'S REPORT ON THE CALIFORNIA GOLD DISCOVERIES¹

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CALIFORNIA GOLD

IMPORTANT OFFICIAL REPORT

We publish the following description of the Gold Region from the pen of Col. MASON, the Military Commandant of California, being one of the Documents accompanying the President's Message. Our readers will also see rich reports from the gold regions of Virginia:

HEADQUARTERS 10^th MILITARY DEPT., MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, AUG. 17, 1848.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that accompanied by Lieut. W. T Sherman, 3d artillery, A.A.A. General, I started on the 12^th of June last to make a tour through the northern part of California. My principal purpose, however, was to visit the newly-discovered gold 'placer' in the Valley of the Sacramento. I had proceeded about forty miles, when I was overtaken by an express, bringing me intelligence of the arrival at Monterey of the U.S. Ship Southampton, with important letters from Com. Shubrick and Lieut. Col. Burton. I returned at once to Monterey, and dispatched what business was most important, and on the 17^th resumed my journey. We reached San Francisco on the 20^th, and found that all, or nearly all, its male inhabitants had gone to the mines. The town, which a few months before was so busy and thriving, was then almost deserted.

On the evening of the 25^th, the horses of the escort were crossed to Sousoleto(sic) in a launch, and on the following day we resumed the journey by way of Bodega and Sonoma to Sutter's fort, where we arrived on the morning of the 2d of July. Along the whole route mills were lying idle, fields of wheat were open to cattle and horses, houses vacant, and farms going to waste. At Sutter's there was more life and business. Launches were discharging their cargos at the river, and carts were hauling goods to the fort, where already were established several stores, a hotel, &c. Captain Sutter had only two mechanics in his employ, (a wagon-maker and blacksmith), whom he was then paying ten dollars a day. Merchants pay him a monthly rent of $100 per room; and while I was there a two-story house in the fort was rented as a hotel for $500 a month.

At the urgent solicitation of many gentlemen, I delayed there to participate in the first public celebration of our national anniversary at that fort, but on the 5^th resumed the journey and proceeded twenty-five miles up the American fork to a point on it now known as the Lower Mines, or Mormon Diggings.

¹New York Daily Tribune, December 8, 1848.

The hillsides were thickly strewn with canvass tents and bush arbors; a store was erected, and several boarding shanties in operation. The day was intensely hot, yet about two hundred men were at work in the full glare of the sun, washing for gold – some with tin pans, some with close-woven Indian baskets, but the greater part had a rude machine, known as a cradle. This is on rockers, six or eight feet long, open at the foot, and at is head has a coarse grate, or sieve; the bottom is rounded, with small cleets nailed across. Four men are required to work this machine; one digs the ground in the bank close by the stream; another carries it to the cradle and empties it on the grate; a third gives a violent rocking motion to the machine; while a fourth dashes on water from the stream itself.

The sieve keeps the course stones from entering the cradle, the current of water washes off the earthy matter, and the gravel is gradually carried out at the foot of the machine, leaving the gold mixed with heavy fine black sand above the first cleets. The sand and gold mixed together are then drawn off through augur holes into a pan below, are dried in the sun, and afterward separated by blowing off the sand. A party of four men thus employed at the lower mines averaged $100 a day. The Indians, and those who have nothing but pans or willow baskets, gradually wash out the earth and separate the gravel by hand, leaving nothing but the gold mixed with sand, which is separated in the manner before described. The gold in the lower mines is in fine bright scales, of which I send several specimens.

As we ascended the north branch of the American fork, the country became more broken and mountainous, and at the saw-mill, 25 miles above the lower washings, or 50 miles from Sutter's, the hills rise to about a thousand feet above the level of the Sacramento plain. Here a species of pine occurs which led to the discovery of gold. Capt. Sutter, feeling the great want of lumber, contracted in September last with a Mr. Marshall to build a saw mill at that place. It was erected in the course of the past Winter and Spring – a dam and race constructed; but when the water was let on the wheel, the tail-race was found to be too narrow to permit the water to escape with sufficient rapidity. Mr. Marshall, to save labor, let the water directly into the race with a strong current, so as to wash it wider and deeper. He effected his purpose, and a large bed of mud and gravel was carried to the foot of the race.

One day Mr. Marshall, as he was walking down the race to this deposit of mud, observed some glittering particles at its upper edge; he gathered a few, examined them, and became satisfied of their value. He then went to the fort, told Capt. Sutter of his discovery, and they agreed to keep it secret until a certain grist-mill of Sutter's was finished. It however got out and spread like magic. Remarkable success attended the labors of the first explorer's, and in a few weeks hundreds of men were drawn thither. At the time of my visit, but little over three months after its first discovery, it was estimated that upward of 4,000 people were employed. At the mill there is a fine deposit or bank of gravel, which the people respect as the property of Capt. Sutter, although he pretends to no right to it, and would be perfectly satisfied with the simple promise of preemption, on account of the mill which he has built there at considerable cost. Mr. Marshall was living near the mill, and informed me that many persons were employed above and below him; that they used the same machines at the lower washings, and that their success was about the same – ranging from one to three ounces of gold per man daily. This gold, too, is in scales a little coarser than those of the lower mines.

From the mill Mr. Marshall guided me up the mountain on the opposite or north bank of the south fork, where, in the bed of small streams or ravines, now dry, a great deal of coarse gold has been found. I there saw several parties at work, all of whom were doing very well; a great many specimens were shown me, some as heavy as four or five ounces in weight, and I send three pieces labeled No. 5, presented by a Mr. Spence. You will perceive that some of the specimens accompanying this, hold mechanically pieces of quartz; that the surface is rough, and evidently molded in the crevice of a rock. This gold cannot have been carried far by water, but must have remained near where it was first deposited from the rock that once bound it. I inquired of many people if they had encountered the metal in its matrix, but in every instance they said they had not; but that the gold was invariably mixed with washed gravel, or lodged in the crevices of other rocks. All bore testimony that they had found gold in greater or less quantities in the numerous small gullies or ravines that occur in that mountainous region.

On the 7^th of July I left the mill, and crossed to a stream emptying into the American fork, three or four miles below the saw-mill. I struck this stream (now known as Weber's Creek) at the washings of Sunol & Co. They had about thirty Indians employed, whom they pay in merchandise. They were getting gold of a character similar to that found in the main fork, and doubtless in sufficient quantities to satisfy them. I send you a small specimen, presented by this company, of their gold. From this point, we proceed up the stream about eight miles, where we found a great many people and Indians – some engaged in the bed of the stream, and others in the small side valleys that put into it. These latter are exceedingly rich, and two ounces were considered an ordinary yield for a day's work. A small gutter not more than a hundred yards long by 4 feet wide and 2 or 3 feet deep, was pointed out to me as the one where two men – William Daly and Parry McCoon – had, a short time before, obtained $17,000 worth of gold. Capt. Weber informed me that he knew that these two men had employed four white men and about a hundred Indians, and that, at the end of one week's work, they paid off their party, and had left $10,000 worth of this gold. Another small ravine was shown me, from which had been taken upward of $12,000 worth of gold. Hundred of similar ravines, to all appearances, are as yet untouched. I could not have credited these reports had I not seen, in the abundance of the precious metal, evidence of their truth.

Mr. Neligh, an agent of Commodore Stockton, had been at work about three weeks in the neighborhood, and showed me in bags and bottle over $2,000 worth of gold; and Mr. Lyman, a gentleman of education and worthy of every credit, said he had been engaged with four others, with a machine, on the American fork, just below Sutter's mill; that they worked eight days, and that his share was at the rate of $50 a day; but hearing that others were doing better at Weber's place, they had removed there, and were then on the point of resuming operations. I might tell of hundreds of similar instances; but, to illustrate how plentiful the gold was in the pockets of common laborers, I will mention a simple occurrence which took place in my presence when I was at Weber's store. This store was nothing but an arbor of bushes, under which he had exposed for sale goods and groceries suited to his customers. A man came in, picked up a box of Seidlitz powders, and asked its price. Capt. Weber told him it was not for sale. The man offered an ounce of gold, but Capt. Weber told him it only cost 50 cents, and he did not wish to sell it. The man then offered an ounce and a half, when Capt Weber had to take it. The prices of all things are high, and yet Indians, who before hardly knew what a breech-cloth was, can now afford to buy the most gaudy dresses.

The country on either side of Weber's creek is much broken up by hills, and is intersected in every direction by small streams or ravines, which contain more or less gold. Those that have been worked are barely scratched; and although thousands of ounces have been carried away, I do not consider that a serious impression has been made upon the whole. Every day was developing new and richer deposits; and the only impression seemed to be, that the metal would be found in such abundance as seriously to depreciate in value.

On the 8^th of July I returned to the lower mines, and on the following day to Sutter's, where, on the 10^th, I was making preparations for a visit to the Feather, Yubah(sic) and Bear rivers, when I received a letter from Commander A. R. Long, United States Navy, who had just arrived at San Francisco from Mazatlan with a crew for the sloop-of-war Warren, with orders to take that vessel to the squadron at La Paz. Capt. Long wrote to me that the Mexican Congress had adjourned without ratifying the treaty of peace, that he had letters for me from Commodore Jones, and that his orders were to sail with the Warren on or before the 20^th of July. In consequence of these I determined to return to Monterey, and accordingly arrived here on the 17^th of July. Before leaving Sutter's I satisfied myself that gold existed in the bed of the Feather River, in the Yubah and Bear, and in many smaller streams that lie between the latter and the American fork; also, that it had been found in the Cosummes(sic) to the south of the American fork. In each of these streams the gold is found in small scales, whereas in the intervening mountains it occurs in coarser lumps.

Mr. Sinclair, whose rancho is three miles above Sutter's on the north side of the American, employs about 50 Indians on the north fork, not far from its junction with the main stream. He had been engaged about five weeks when I saw him, and up to that time his Indians had used simply closely woven willow baskets. His net proceeds (which I saw) were about $16,000 worth of gold. He showed me the proceeds of his last week's work – fourteen pounds avoirdupois of clean-washed gold.

The principal store at Sutter's Fort, that of Brannan & Co., had received in payment for goods $36,000 (worth of this gold) from the 1^st of May to the 10^th of July. Other merchants had also made extensive sales. Large quantities of goods were daily sent forward to the mines, as the Indians, heretofore so poor and degraded, have suddenly become consumers of the luxuries of life. I before mentioned that the greater part of the farmers and rancheros had abandoned their fields to go to the mines. This is not the case with Captain Sutter, who was carefully gathering his wheat, estimated at 40,000 bushels. Flour is already worth at Sutter's $36 a barrel, and soon will be fifty. Unless large quantities of breadstuffs reach the country, much suffering will occur; but as each man is now able to pay a large price, it is believed the merchants will bring from Chili and Oregon a plentiful supply for the coming Winter.

The most moderate estimate I could obtain from men acquainted with the subject, was, that upward of four thousand men were working in the gold district, of whom more than one-half were Indians; and that from $30,000 to $50,000 worth of gold, if not more, was daily obtained. The entire gold district, with very few exceptions of grants made some years ago by the Mexican authorities, is on land belonging to the United States. It was a matter of serious reflection with me, how I could secure to the Government certain rents or fees for the privilege of procuring this gold; but upon considering the large extent of country, the character of the people engaged, and the small scattered force at my command, I resolved not to interfere, but to permit all to work freely, unless broils and crime should call for interference. I was surprised to learn that crime of any kind was very unfrequent, and that no thefts or robberies had been committed in the gold district.

Some of the specimens of gold accompanying this were presented for transmission to the Department by the gentlemen named below. The numbers on the topographical sketch corresponding to the labels of the respective specimens, show from what part of the gold region they were obtained.

1. Captain J. A. Sutter

2. John Sinclair

3. Wm .Glover, R. C. Kirby, Ira Blanchard, Levi Fifield, Franklin H. Arynes Mormon diggings.

4. Charles Weber

5. Robert Spence

6. Sunol & Co.

7. Robert D. Neligh

8. C. E. Picket, American Fork Columa

9. E. C. Kemble

10. T. H. Green, from San Fernando, near Los Angeles.

A. 2 oz purchased from Mr. Neligh

B. Sand found in washing gold, which contains small particles.

11. Captain Frisbie, Dry Diggings, Weber's Creek

12. Consumnes

13. Consumnes, Hartwell's Ranch.

I have the honor to be your most ob't. Ser't.

R. B. Mason, Col. 1^st Dragoons, Commanding.

Brig. Gen. R. Jones, Adjt.-Gen. U.S. A., Washington, D. C.

Note. - The original letter, of which this is a copy, was sent to its address, in charge of Lieut. L. Loeser, 3^rd artillery, bearer of dispatches, who sailed in the schooner Lambayecana, from Monterey, August 30, 1848, bound for Payta, Peru. Lieut. Loeser bears, in addition to the specimens mentioned in the foregoing letter, a tea-caddy containing two hundred and thirty ounces fifteen pennyweights and nine grains of gold. This was purchased at San Francisco by my order, and is sent to you as a fair sample of the gold obtained from the mines of the Sacramento. It is a mixture, coming from the various parts of the gold district.

R. B. Mason, Col. 1^st Drag. Comd'g.

Headquarters 10^th Mil. Department

Monterey, (Cal.) Sept. 10, 1848.

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H

COMPLETE LIST OF VESSELS TO CHAGRES FROM

DECEMBER 7, 1848, TO FEBRUARY 8, 1849¹

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COMPLETE LIST OF VESSELS

Which have sailed from various Ports of the United States to Chagres, and other Ports,

for California, since Dec. 7, 1848.

Vessels		Passengers	Where from	Sailed.
Strmr.	Orus	50	New York	Dec. 12
Strmr.	Crescent City	130	New York	Dec. 13
Strmr.	Isthmus	60	New York	Dec. 25
Strmr.	Falcon	227	New York	Feb. 1
Strmr.	Crescent City	305	New York	Feb. 5
Ship	Florence	10	New York	Dec. 14
Ship	Sutton	50	New York	Dec. 29
Ship	Chris. Colon	30	New York	Jan. 6
Ship	B.T. Bartlett	65	New York	Jan. 6
Ship	Albany	66	New York	Jan. 9
Ship	Brooklyn	167	New York	Jan. 12
Ship	Tarolinta	130	New York	Jan. 14
Ship	Apollo	66	New York	Jan. 16
Ship	Pacific	100	New York	Jan. 23
Ship	South Carolina	163	New York	Jan. 24
Ship	Montreal	8	New York	Jan. 25
Ship	Tahmaroo	160	New York	Jan. 25
Ship	Rose	38	New York	Jan. 25
Ship	Orpheus	174	New York	Jan. 30
Ship	Panama	160	New York	Feb. 4
Ship	Daniel Webster	58	New York	Feb. 5
Ship	Robert Bowne	175	New York	Feb. 5
Ship	Clarissa Perkins	127	New York	Feb. 7
Ship	Geo. Washington	99	New York	Feb. 8
Bark	John Benson	60	New York	Dec. 11
Bark	Neumpha	81	New York	Dec. 24
Bark	Express	25	New York	Jan. 2
Bark	Ocean Bird	10	New York	Jan. 2
Bark	Harriet Newell	20	New York	Jan. 10
Bark	Croton	50	New York	Jan. 14
Bark	Peytona	18	New York	Jan. 16
Bark	Rolla	23	New York	Jan. 16
Bark	Madonna	6	New York	Jan. 16
Bark	Eugenia	134	New York	Jan. 16
Bark	Hersilia	59	New York	Jan. 20
Bark	Mazeppa	28	New York	Jan. 23
Bark	Templeton	50	New York	Jan. 24
Bark	Mary Stuart	12	New York	Jan. 27
Bark	Victory	19	New York	Jan. 27
Bark	Philip Hone	60	New York	Jan. 27
Bark	Azim	48	New York	Jan. 27
Bark	Mara	155	New York	Jan. 31
Bark	Bonne Adele	68	New York	Feb. 2
Bark	Ann Welch	67	New York	Feb. 2
Bark	Strafford	101	New York	Feb. 3
Bark	Isabel	47	New York	Feb. 7
Brig	Mary Rennel	10	New York	Jan. 2
Brig	Newcastle	10	New York	Jan. 4
Brig	D. Henshaw	15	New York	Jan. 7
Brig	George Henry	10	New York	Jan. 10
Brig	Henrico	20	New York	Jan. 10
Brig	Orbit, Company of	35	New York	Jan. 13
Brig	Isabel	20	New York	Jan. 14
Brig	John Enders	40	New York	Jan. 18
Brig	Georgiana	13	New York	Jan. 18
Brig	A. Emory	47	New York	Jan. 25
Brig	Sarah McFarland	41	New York	Jan. 28
Brig	Cordelia	57	New York	Jan. 30
Brig	Eudora	48	New York	Jan. 30
Schr.	Anthem	22	New York	Feb. 3
Schr.	Olivia	20	New York	Jan. 16
Schr.	Samuel Roberts	7	New York	Jan. 16
Schr.	Rawson	8	New York	Jan. 20
Schr.	Decatur	29	New York	Jan. 27
Schr.	Laura Virginia	26	New York	Jan. 29
Schr.	John W. Castnor	88	New York	Jan. 29
Schr.	Empire	15	New York	Feb. 1
Schr.	Sea Witch	9	New York	Feb. 1
Ship	Edward Everett	150	Boston	Jan. 12
Ship	Capitol	195	Boston	Jan. 24
Ship	Pharsalia	150	Boston	Jan. 25
Ship	Corsair	112	Boston	Jan. 31
Ship	Drummond	47	Boston	Feb. 1
Ship	Leonore	100	Boston	Feb. 3
Bark	J. W. Coffin	4	Boston	Dec. 7
Bark	Carib	11	Boston	Dec. 31
Bark	Elvira	12	Boston	Jan. 6
Bark	Maria	22	Boston	Jan. 10
Bark	Josephine, Company	30	Boston	Jan. 10
Bark	Oxford	63	Boston	Jan. 12
Bark	Rochelle	46	Boston	Feb. 3
Brig	Josephine	32	Boston	Dec. 24
Brig	Mary Wilder	49	Boston	Dec. 26
Brig	Almena	29	Boston	Dec. 26
Brig	Saltillo	12	Boston	Dec. 26
Brig	Forest	45	Boston	Jan. 11
Brig	Attlila	42	Boston	Jan. 12
Brig	North Bend	31	Boston	Jan. 15
Brig	Acadia	16	Boston	Feb. 3
	Naumkeag Mut. Trad. Co.	20	Boston	Jan. 15
Schr.	Anonyma	3	Boston	Jan. 17
Schr.	Boston	30	Boston	Jan. 25
Ship	Louisana	40	Philadelphia	Dec. 20
Ship	Gray Eagle	36	Philadelphia	Jan. 18
Brig	Oniotal	17	Philadelphia	Jan. 11
Brig	Osceola	65	Philadelphia	Jan. 16
Brig	Marion	8	Philadelphia	Jan. 21
Ship	Gray Hound	6	Baltimore	Jan. 10
Ship	Jane Parker	80	Baltimore	Jan. 25
Ship	Xylon	140	Baltimore	Feb. 3
Bark	Paoli	5	Baltimore	Jan. 11
Bark	Hebe	7	Baltimore	Feb. 3
Bark	John Potter	13	Baltimore	Feb. 6
Brig	Bathurst	12	Baltimore	Feb. 6
Schr.	Eclipse	8	Baltimore	Jan. 11
Schr.	Sovereign	40	Baltimore	Jan. 17
Stmr.	Falcon	200	New Orleans	Dec.__
Stmr.	Telegraph	5	New Orleans	Jan. 12
Stmr.	Fanny	214	New Orleans	Jan. 14
Ship	Architect	63	New Orleans	Jan. 18
Bark	Florida	7	New Orleans	Jan. 14
Schr.	Macon	60	New Orleans	Dec. 10
Schr.	Othello	67	Charleston
Ship	Mary and Adeline	212	Norfolk	Dec. 27
Brig	John Petty	14	Norfolk	Jan. 10
Ship	Aurora	31	Nantucket	Jan. 11
	Plymouth & Cal. Min. Co.	50	Plymouth	Jan. 16
Ship	Magnolia	87	New Bedford	Feb. 1
Bark	Dimon	55	New Bedford
Schr.	Favorite	8	New Bedford	Dec. 13
Schr.	Pomona	17	New Bedford
	Suliote	50	Belfast, Me.	Jan. 28
Brig	Charlotte	43	Newburyport	Jan. 23
Brig	Pauline	30	Charlestown	Jan. 13
Schr.	Montague	47	New Haven	Jan. 24
Brig	Sterling	10	Salem	Dec. 30
Brig	Eliza	37	Salem	Jan. 27
Brig	Mentor	57	New London	Jan. 31
Schr.	Mary Taylor	10	New London	Jan. 13
Schr.	Velasco	38	New London	Jan. 25
Schr.	Odd Fellow	22	New London	Feb. 2
Ship	Trescott	50	Mystic	Jan. 24
Brig	J. Goodhue	5	Eastport	Jan. 17
Ship	Hopewell	105	Warren, R.I.	Jan. 29
	California Over'nd Ass.	300	Buffalo	Jan. 20
Ship	Sabina	67	Sag Harbor	Feb. 8

¹New York Daily Tribune, February10, 1849.

___________________________

From N. York	In stm'rs	772
From N. York	In ships	1,846
From N. York	In barks	1,141
From N. York	In brigs	388
From N. York	In schrs.	212
	Total	4,359
From Boston	In ships	754
From Boston	In barks	188
From Boston	In brigs	256
From Boston	In schrs	53
	Total	1,251
From Philadel	In ships	76
From Philadel	In brigs	90
	Total	166

From Balt're	In ships	276
From Balt're	In barks	25
From Balt're	In brigs	12
From Balt're	In schrs	43
	Total	361
From N. Orl's	In stm'rs	419
From N. Orl's	In ships	63
From N. Orl's	In barks	7
From N. Orl's	In schrs	60
	Total	549
From other ports		1,412
Grand total number of passengers		8,098

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Source: Berthold, Victor M., Ph.D., The Pioneer Steamer California 1848-1849, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1932. Boston & New York.

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© 2010 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

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